MST3K 904 - Werewolf
The Movie Synopsis A team of archaeologists unearth an animal skeleton at a dig in an Arizona quarry. During the discovery, a worker named Tommy is injured and contaminated by the specimen when Yuri, the ruthlessly ambitious, violent team leader shoves him to the ground. The Native Americans at the site instantly recognize the signs of a werewolf from tribal legend. Noel, the head of the project, seems to know quite a bit about the legend. The remains are taken to the lab. in Werewolf]] Yuri sees an opportunity for personal gain when Tommy begins turning into a werewolf in full view of hospital personnel. He then conducts an experiment to infect a security guard (the director) to see whether he turns into a werewolf as well. (He does). When a writer named Paul visit the lab in the company of the beautiful Natalie, a jealous Yuri assaults him with one of the skeleton's bones, and Paul is infected. During Paul's subsequent transformations, he goes around the city "doing things", such as crawling on the ground like a worm before chasing a woman through a puddle. Natalie, the love interest (who takes a freshly creative approach to each pronunciation of "werewolf" in the film) eventually comprehends what Yuri is doing and tries to save Paul. Information * At the time, this was the most recent movie to be spoofed by MST3K in terms of production, being filmed and released in 1996. The most recent movie in terms of release date was Future War, which was filmed in 1994 but wasn't released until 1997. ''Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders'' was also released in 1996, but included material that had been shot as long ago as the early 1980s. * Several scenes from Werewolf were shot on the campus of Glendale Community College in Glendale, California. The lab scenes took place in the old Physical Science building before it was refurbished in the early 2000s. The footbridge that crosses Verdugo Road, in front of the College, is seen in several nighttime shots. * Director Tony Zarindast had purchased the stock shot of the car driving into the oil drums and exploding before shooting. He had his personal car painted to match the color of the car in the stock shots. This creates a notable mistake in the film: The original chase car is a Ford Taurus, but changes into a Plymouth Acclaim for the explosion sequence (which is later noted by Mike and the Bots). * To help keep the film on schedule and on budget, actors Randall Oliver, R.C. Bates, Joe Estevez, and Richard Lynch performed their own stunts. * The many colors of Yuri's (Jorge Rivero's) hair: Black, Orange, Brown, Blonde highlights, Black and parted like Hitler, Salt and pepper dry look and Gray skunk stripe. To be fair, Yuri's hair never really changes color - it appears to be due to the inconsistent lighting and various days that pass during both filming and the film itself. The Episode Host Segments *'''Introduction: After a fall, Mike thinks that he's James Lipton and interviews Crow, thinking the latter is Ray Liotta and interviews him about his film career. *'Segment One': Crow hits Mike with a clown hammer, restoring him to his senses. Mike attempts to affect an escape, but accidentally lands in Castle Forrester. Mike decides to give up after Brain Guy produces a cannon and points it at him. * Segment Two: Mike and the Bots speculate over whom they would cast in their werewolf movies, using famous celebrity relatives (including Spike Knotts and Chip Hitler) as characters. All Crow can come up with is Ray Liotta. *'Segment Three': Mike, Tom and Crow dress up as a '60s girl group and sing "Where, O Werewolf", about "Cindy" (Mike)'s doomed relationship with her werewolf boyfriend. * Segment Four: Mike cuts himself on Crow's head and begins turning into a Werecrow. Servo is horrified, but Crow warms to the idea and tells Mike what to expect from his transformation. *'Segment Five': Mike is even further along in his transformation, but Servo comes up with an antidote. Unfortunately, Servo is now transforming into a Weremike. At Castle Forrester, Pearl attempts to create her own werewolf, but Bobo produces a cocker spaniel instead. Stinger: Natalie's flat emotionless delivery of the line "This is absolutely fascinating." Trivia * The wolf in the last host segment was played by Kevin Murphy's dog, Humphrey. Humphrey had previously appeared in all of the author photos in the Amazing Colossal Episode Guide. *The helmet prop that Mike wears during his ladder descent had previously appeared during Mike's spacewalk in Experiment #902 The Phantom Planet. * Included in the 20th Anniversary Edition DVD set with First Spaceship on Venus, Laserblast, and Future War. * Werewolf was one of the films used in the 2013 Turkey Day marathon, based on fans' recommendations to Joel Hodgson. * This is one of iCarly actress Jennette Mccurdy's favorite episodes. Obscure References *''"Right - King Timohoe here is going to drive himself home."'' 'King Timahoe was an Irish setter owned by President Nixon. *''"An American Werewolf in traffic!"'' A reference to the film, An American Werewolf in London. *''"...a film called 'Operation Dumbo Drop'. Let's talk about that!"'' Operation Dumbo Drop was a 1995 movie starring Danny Glover and Ray Liotta. *''"...Harold Robbins' 'The Lonely Lady'..."'' The Lonely Lady was a a novel by Harold Robbins, later made into a movie in 1983 starring Pia Zadora. *""Louis Leakey in 'Every Which Way But Loose'!" Louis Leakey was a renowned archaeologist, naturalist, and paleoanthropologist. Every Which Way But Loose was a 1978 movie starring Clint Eastwood and a trained orangutan. *''"The "Man in the Yellow Hat" is called in to calm things down."'' "The Man in the Yellow Hat" was the human caregiver and father figure of the monkey Curious George. *''"Laura Dern prototype."'' Natalie's initial appearance bears some resemblance to actress Laura Dern and her role as Dr. Sattler from the film Jurassic Park. (Both female protagonists were introduced at a dig site respectively.) *''"Awww, the poor thing has TMJ."'' Temporomandibular joint dysfunction, a condition that affects the joint between the skull and the mandible. *''"It might just be the Bumpasses' dogs, we're not sure."'' The Bumpasses were the family of "hillbilly neighbors" in A Christmas Story. Their noisy dogs were a constant source of annoyance to the father in the story, and the dogs eventually ruined the family's Christmas dinner. *''"Heyyyy yayyyyy..Hiiiii....Yee Oh..Hi Oooohhhhhh!!! ...Pure Moods!"'' Servo seems to be mimicking the Native American chant heard in the song 'Return to Innocence' by new age musical group Enigma. Pure Moods is a compilation of New Age Music by various artists (including Enigma) on CD. *''"They're establishing the hell out of this buliding here."'' An establishing shot is used to show that the film is changing locations, or that time has passed between scenes. It's usually not nearly as long as the shot in the film (about fifteen seconds). *''"E-O eleven..."'' From the theme song to the original version of Ocean's Eleven. *''"A silver bullet." "Is Coors Light in your gun?"'' Coors Light beer is referred to as "The Silver Bullet" in a long-running ad campaign. *''"If it's Martin, shoot to kill. Then *I* can be in '''Spawn!"'' In 1997, Martin Sheen appeared in the movie adaptation of the comic book Spawn. (Probably a double-joke because of Spawn 's reputation of being a terrible film.) *''"It's the actual skeleton of a 'Pushmepullyou."'' The Pushmepullyou was a type of llama from Dr. Dolittle that had a head on both ends of its body. *''"Hey mighty brontosaurus, don't you have a lesson for us?!"'' The drum beats heard on the movie's soundtrack prompts Tom Servo to sing an excerpt from Sting's 'Walking In Your Footsteps.' *''"Travis Bickle moved out to the suburbs!"'' Travis Bickle was the title character in the 1976 film Taxi Driver. He was mentally unstable and eventually shaved his head into a mohawk and went on a killing spree. *''"I'll take a walk!"'' "Over to Kirk Douglas's house!" Reference to the actor Kirk Douglas and his often angry/intense line delivery, whom Yuri seems to imitate. *''This is like the time I hit that reporter with Piltdown Man's thighbone.'' Piltdown Man was a famous paleontological hoax of the 1920s, where the skull of a supposed "missing link" between man and ape was found. It was proven to be a hoax decades later. *''"C'mon, 'The Sheltering Sky' moved quicker than this movie!"'' The Sheltering Sky was a 1990 movie set in post-war North Africa revolving around two tourist couples. It is notoriously slow-moving and co-starred John Malkovich. *''"Flagstaff. I can't believe I'm still in Flagstaff!"'' A parody of the opening line from Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Werewolf star Joe Estevez also filled in for his older brother, Martin Sheen, for some parts of the film's narration. *''"Oh, weasels ripped my flesh again."'' A reference to a Frank Zappa album, famous for its cover art. *''"Word of advice, never have sex with Flo-Jo."'' Track star Florence Griffith-Joyner was famous for having very long fingernails. *''"It's the Red Shoe Diaries all of a sudden!"'' Red Shoe Diaries was a softcore porn (or "erotic drama") series that aired on Showtime in the 90s. *''"Ziggy played...GUITAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR"'' Yuri's haristyle at that moment in the movie sort of looks like David Bowie's during the Ziggy Stardust period of his career. *''"Can't you see what I'm trying to tell you - I love you!'' Groucho Marx said this line in the film Duck Soup *''"PBR me ASAP!"'' Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer used this phrase in an advertising campaign for their beer. *''I was playing Miss Havisham in the school play when I got attacked by a werewolf!'' Miss Havisham is a character in Charles Dickens's novel Great Expectations. She wore an elaborate wedding dress that had deteriorated with age. *''"You know what I really want to do?" "Is baby be friends with you."'' Lyrics from Bob Dylan's song All I Really Want to Do *''Frederic Remington's'' Guernica''."'' Frederic Remington was an American artist famous for his depictions of American history, particularly the Old West. Guernica was a famous painting by Pablo Picasso depicting the Fascist bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. *''Basquiat is in danger!'' Jean-Michel Basquiat was a New York artist. *''Leland Sklar, survivalist'' Leland Sklar is a musician noted for his facial hair. *''Live from New York, it's Saturday night!'' This is the famous lead-in line to "Saturday Night Live". In the long-running sketch show's first season, the line was typically delivered by actor Chevy Chase after he made some kind of dangerous fall. *''It's a Maurice Sendak creature.'' Maurice Sendak wrote and illustrated numerous children's books, although the reference is probably mainly to Where the Wild Things Are. *''The death of Oliver Sacks.'' Oliver Sacks is a prominent British neurologist and author of the book Awakenings. *''She learned English from the wild and crazy guys.'' A series of sketches from "Saturday Night Live" in the 70s, where Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd played a pair of Czech brothers with heavy accents who are constantly trying to pick up women. *''"So, basically, werewolves are Jackson Browne."'' Jackson Browne was alleged to have been physically abusive to his girlfriend Darryl Hannah, though no actual charges were ever brought. *''"And Congress enacted the Pop Rocks labelling law."'' A reference to the urban legend that eating the carbonated candy Pop Rocks at the same time that you drank a carbonated beverage like Coca-Cola would kill you by causing your stomach to explode. Though this isn't true, it's still not recommended. doesn't find this specimen to be all that "fascinating."]] A list of songs sung by Mike and the bots during the closing credits: *''Pow Wow the Indian Boy: theme song from a cartoon featured on the "Captain Kangaroo" show. *We Will Rock You: by Queen *Tusk: by Fleetwood Mac *The Battle of New Orleans: by Johnnie Horton *Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves: by Cher *The Lonely Goatherd: from ''The Sound of Music *''Here Comes Santa Claus: by Gene Autry *Give It Away: by Red Hot Chili Peppers *Brand New Key: by Melanie *Admiral Halsey/Uncle Albert: by Paul and Linda McCartney *Cat's in the Cradle: by Harry Chapin *Easter Parade: by Irving Berlin *One Night in Bangkok: from ''Chess *''Surrey With a Fringe on Top: from ''Oklahoma! *''The Freshmen: by Verve Pipe *Oh! Susanna: by Stephen Foster Gags/Continuity Errors An interesting thing to notice is that Tom Servo, who normally required the assistance of Mike or Joel to enter the theater, is shown entering the movie theater all by himself in the beginning of the movie, as Mike was not on the SOL when the movie started. Since Servo's hovering abilities were just as exaggerated as Crow's rarely seen feet and MST3K is a show that encourages viewers to "just relax", this was never explained. Memorable Quotes : ''is lagging behind, so Servo and Crow enter the theater alone. Title card is shown. : Servo: I don't know, you had him last! laughs : Crow: You can't say that! You're gonna get in trouble! That's a really stupid joke, and I'm gonna tell Mike! : Servo: Ha-ha, I don't care, what's Mike gonna do, anyway? laughs : enters. : Mike: Hey, guys. : Servo: screams YAH! : Crow: Mike, the title came up and it said Werewolf, and then Servo said "I don't know, you had him last!" And...and I...I think that was a really stupid joke... : Mike: chuckles Ah, well, that's pretty funny, I like that! : Servo: Thank you! : Crow: backpedaling Heeeey, that's what I meant! I...I like it. : finishes chuckling : Crow: defeated Good one, Servo. : Servo: gloating Well, thank you! chuckles : Joe Estevez appears in the credits, Crow reads through the other names. : Crow: Well so far the "star power" consists of Charlie Sheen's uncle. : group is sweeping in the sand during an archaeological dig in the desert. : Billy: Hey, I got something here! : Crow: It's Ron! : breaks into a massive brawl with the other archaeologists. : Crow: Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Archaeologists! : . . . : Crow: It's a production of Road House in the Park. : . . . : Mike: And during the fight, they stomped all over the Ark of the Covenant. : Noel: At the risk of sounding nuts... : Crow Noel: I've replaced my toes with grapes. : a shot of the moon : Servo moon: Oh, I ate too much - I am a full moon! : Mike: I am gonna hit you so hard... : of a poor-looking werewolf running through the woods. : Servo: No, wait! It's a gorilla! : up of poor-looking werewolf mask. : Servo: ...With a dog mask on! : goes upstairs after his awkward introduction to "Sam the Keeper." : Sam: Oh hey Paul! : Tom Sam: We're sharing a bed!! : Paul: Yes? : Sam: I just found out Count Dracula was a fa***t. : Paul: ....Oh...Is that right? : Sam: You don't have to believe me...But that's "The Facts!" : Mike: You know suddenly I miss my dad. : and Natalie make eye contact at a party. : Servo: I see some really stupid children being born as a result of these two meeting. : takes Yuri outside after Yuri drunkenly hits on Natalie. : Noel: Yuri! What the hell is the matter with you? : Crow Noel: You are married to me! : a party, writer Paul chats with archaeologist Natalie. : Paul: I'm actually working on something now. : Natalie: Really? What's the subject matter? : Crow Paul: You're right. The subject doesn't matter at all! : Mike: Heh, good one! : the lab, a grandmother-like Noel (Richard Lynch) stalls English-impaired Natalie. : Natalie: What are you hiding from me, Noel? Tell me the truth! : Servo Noel: Grandma voice You can't handle the truth, deary! : Noel: In due time, you'll know everything. : Natalie: Well, maybe then it's too late! : Mike: Wow! The future conditional pluperfect subjunctive. : slaughtering tenses and mispronouncing werewolf multiple times, Natalie walks in and sees Paul as a werewolf. : Mike Natalie: Paul, you is a wahrwilf! : the harpsichord pool bar, Natalie confronts Yuri about his werewolf-kidnapping plan. : Natalie: So it all comes to this? : Servo Natalie: The... thing that it comes to? : Natalie: You and Noel is in it for fame and fortune? : Crow Yuri: Yes, we is. : Natalie: But over my dead''BOD''y. You hear me? I won't stand for it! : Servo Natalie: You is a jerk! : paunchy man in a black leather jacket is seen at the pool hall. : Crow: Chubby Ramone! : having completely transformed into a werewolf, approaches Sam. : Sam: Werewolf? : Crow Paul: No, I'm a squirrel monkey; OF COURSE I'm a werewolf, you... : Natalie is about to go upstairs to "WerePaul", Sam stops her. : Sam: Oh wait! Ms. Natalie! I really don't think you should go in there! : Mike Sam: I passed my tapeworm!! : the end of the film, a door slams in the background : Crow: Oh, that was the sound of the director giving up and leaving. : Crow and Servo sing alternate lyrics over generic Native American chanting in the credits : Mike: Pow Wow the Indian boy, loved all the animals in the west... : Mike, Crow and Servo: We will, we will, we will ROCK YOU! Tusk! : Servo: Though they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles and they ran through the places where a rabbit wouldn't go... : Crow: Gypsies, tramps and thieves, we heard it from the people of the town... : Mike, Crow and Servo: Tusk! : Mike: High on a hill lived a lonely goatherd, lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo... : Servo: Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane... : Mike, Crow and Servo: Tusk! : Crow: Give it away, give it away, give it away now! Give it away, give it away, give it away now! : Mike: I've got a brand new pair of roller skates, you've got a brand new key... : Mike, Crow and Servo: Tusk! : Servo: Admiral Halsey notified me, he had to have a bath or he couldn't get to sleep... : Crow: And the cat's in the cradle with the silver spoon, Little Boy Blue with the man in the moon... : Mike: In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it... : Servo: One night in Bangkok makes a strong man crumble! : Crow: Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry, when I take you out in a surrey... : Mike: We were merely fresh''men! : '''Mike, Crow and Servo': Oh Susanna, oh don't you cry for me! Cause I come from Alabammy with a banjo on my knee! Tusk! Video Release * Commercially released on DVD by Shout Factory in October 2008 as part of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: 20th Anniversary ''box sex, a 4-DVD set with ''Future War, Laserblast, and First Spaceship on Venus. Category:MST3K Episodes Category:Season 9 Category:90s Movie Category:R-rated movies Category:Direct-to-video films Category:Episodes directed by Michael J. Nelson Category:Movies with nudity edited out